Cast: Ajith Kumar, Trisha Krishnan, Arjun Sarja, Regina Cassandra, Arav, Remya Subramanian

Crew: 

Based on Breakdown Movie
Edited by N. B. Srikanth
Music by Anirudh Ravichander
Cinematography by Om Prakash
Written & Directed by Magizh Thirumeni
Produced by Subaskaran Allirajah

Ajith Kumar is on an all-time high after being awarded with Padma Bhushan by Indian Government. His AK Racing team achieved podium position in debut race in Dubai 24H series. Now, the actor's much delayed Vidaamuyarchi, finally released in theatres. The movie has Trisha Krishnan, Arjun Sarja and Regina Cassandra in other prominent roles. Magizh Thirumeni directed this road thriller and Lyca Productions produced it with a huge budget. The movie released as Pattudala in Telugu and let's discuss about the film in detail. 

Plot: 

Arjun (Ajith Kumar) is working as Vice-President in an US MNC in Azerbaijan. His wife, Kayal (Trisha Krishnan), is a tamilian settled in Azerbaijan and the couple's marriage is in doldrums after 12 years. Kayal asks for divorce from Arjun and she even reveals that she has been having an affair when Arjun tries to persuade. She wants to move out of their house to her parents home. Arjun decides to drop her and persuades her to accept his offer. On the road, they meet another Tamil couple, Rakshith (Arjun Sarja) and Deepika (Regina Cassandra), who offer her a lift when their car breaks down. What happens next? Watch the movie to know more. 

Analysis :

Ajith Kumar is one of the biggest stars of Tamil Cinema and he needs content that suits his image. After a point, any star film cannot have a simple drama and if it prefers to have such a premise, it needs a very strong character. The iamge of the star is so high that a regular man character has to achieve something so unimaginable to suit the larger than life image. Director Magizh Thirumeni couldn't satisfy this condition. 

Breakdown premise has been used numerous times in Hollywood, post the movie's success on VOD and Vidaamuyarchi makers should have been careful about shot to shot remake. The premise being old, the screenplay has become predictable. Also, Ajith's larger-than-life persona hinders the ambition of the makers to showcase him as a common man. His character needed to have some extra-ordinary challenges that he would solve with the help of his skills and abilities. 

Indian Audience are not accustomed to see their stars in simple regular man roles and this is movie is an experiment from Ajith to break all his image shackles. Ajith's performance as a regular man, his vulnerability, his ability to shed all the starry slow motion shots and mass elements is commendable. He is truthful to his character and is able to showcase the other side of his persona on screen, brilliantly. Trisha, Arjun, Regina, Arav and others all did their best. 

Anirudh Ravichander did try his best to elevate scenes but the scope for his work is limited. He did well in giving a popular track like Sawadeeka and it is picturised well, too. Om Prakash's cinematography works very well in detailing an unexplored landscape like Azerbaijan and harsh terrains of the desert very well. His overhead shot during a combat in Hummer is commendable and highly difficult to achieve. Production values by Lyca Productions are also appreciable. 

Magizh Thirumeni could handle the romantic portions well. But the slow narrative as the action begins does bring down the impact. Also, being predictable, the movie losses all the charm it does have after a point. In the second hour, when Ajith takes over the proceedings into his hand, the movie looks like it caught good pace but till then it is a too much of a slow burn to digest easily. Vidaamuyarchi needs a lot of patience to sit through as the narrative drags towards climax further. On the whole, Ajith's efforts to shed down his star image is appreciable but the script doesn't suit his image and it is too flat to be exciting. 

TeluguOne Perspective :

Too Slow paced and drags in second hour